Igniting a new Flame
by Enigmatic Feeling
Summary: Steve Rogers visits the Captain America exhibit and meets an odd reporter. One shot, rated T. Mentions of StevexPeggy, slight OCxSteve.


**Yeah yeah, I know what you're all going to tell me, 'you need to finish your other ficcss before starting a new onnneesszkd' well whatever, I want to write a Marvel story and gosh darn it I'm going to write a Marvel story. So sue me.**

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The Smithsonian in Washington DC, Maryland, has always been a hot spot for tourists ever since the new additions to the Captain America exhibit have took flight. It's one of the most popular exhibits in the museum, well, besides the dino exhibit of course, but that's always exciting for the kids. The Captain America exhibit has always been a crowded part of the museum ever since the hero returned. Now, kids and teens have been buying the franchise, like shirts, costumes, fake, miniature shields of adamantium-vibranium alloy, some even acting like him. He was, and now is, a huge inspiration to America, and the whole world, he saved over 1,000 men from Nazi and Hydra's clutches. They owe him that much.

Captain Steve Rogers always visits the Smithsonian every now and then, he'd have to disguise himself in order to stay hidden from the public, although, sometimes it doesn't always work, little kids always see through his little charade, sometimes it's adults to. Rogers was wearing a baseball cap, a navy blue hoodie with the hood up, and half-way zipped, wearing a basic white shirt underneath. His legs adorned black sweat pants, and shoes. Coming through the exhibit, he'd always watched the before, the middle, the end, and the aftermath, of WWII. Black and white, or in color, it was sort of an odd feeling watching himself on a silver screen with his comrades fighting against the Nazi's; which had happened over 70 years ago, and Steve was 70 years in the future. Everyone he knew, befriended, and partnered with, was either dead, or so old with Alzheimer's disease. He was basically the only WWII veteran alone in this world.

His favorite part of the exhibit was the Peggy Carter documentaries; explaining how WWII transpired, and how Captain America saved her and her comrades, even her husband. Sometimes, Steve is classified as a man who, _lives in the past_, well that couldn't be anymore truer. Even though Agent Carter is old, has children, possibly grandchildren, and a husband, he still symbolizes her as '_his girl_'. A point proven by the picture of her he carries everywhere with him, to remind him that she was the one who noticed him and took interest in him, who cared for him, and.. even kissed him, even before the super-soldier serum. Oh, how he wished he could have told her how he felt about her before the aircraft went down into the water; how much he cares for her and loves her. But the communication was cut short once he hit the water; sealing his fate of waking up 70+ years into the future, and breaking his promise of a date with her.

Cap sat down on one of the benches of the dimly lit room, where a Peggy Carter documentary was currently playing, it was documented in 1953, 8 years after WWII ended. There weren't many people in the room, of course, every time he comes here, this room seems never to be filled, since most people are fascinated with Captain America and Bucky Barnes. On his left was a young woman sitting next to him, elbows on her knees, and chin resting on her hands; watching the clip intently.

How Peggy explained how everything happened, filled him with some sort of nostalgia. But, even though the war felt like yesterday, it was sort of hard adjusting to the new lifestyle of the 21st century. At first he thought Wifi was some sort of food company that people always asked about, but turns out it's actually internet connection. He actually experimented with the internet one time, and stumbled across this website called, 'Wikipedia,' and found that he has a Wikipedia page all about him. Where he was born, who his parents were, his achievements, and how he once was a short, scrawny weakling that gets deathly ill just by coughing on him, it was kind of strange. A phone where you can carry everywhere was pretty neat too, and extremely helpful.

"She's quite interesting." The woman sitting next to him spoke softly, but it was audible. At first, it took Steve a few seconds to process what she said, because he was too focused on the woman talking on the screen, but he eventually snapped out of it; looking over at the woman who was still sitting in the same position as he walked in, "She is, isn't she?" He replied with admiration.

"She's really pretty, and I admire her strong sense of authority in the military because of her accent." She said softly again, and Steve couldn't help but smile at her comment, some soldiers in the military in WWII disregarded her because she had a Bristish accent, although she did show a lot of backbone. "Yeah, I know, she did tend to get pretty scary when she's angry." Steve said, eyes flicking back on the screen, the credits now playing.

The lights flicked back on, and the woman straightened out his posture, giving the man right next to her an odd look. Now that the lights were back on, it gave Steve a better look at the woman. A slender woman who looked the age of 25 was sitting next to him, she had wavy black hair that went a little past her shoulders, she had a slight fringe to the left side of her forehead, hazel eyes that hid behind nerdy-looking glasses, a round face, and a small beauty mark that blended in with her skin; right above the right corner of her lips. Her attire consists of what appears to be a gray trench coat that was open to reveal a white, button-up shirt. Black jeans adorned her skinny legs with black combat boots. Around her neck was a lanyard that held some sort of ID card, and a professional-looking camera that said, 'Nikon' was around her neck as well. Looks like she was here to take some pictures.

The woman's odd look soon faltered to a smile, "Did you have a close and personal encounter with her or something?" She asked with a slight chuckle, at first she was playing, but Steve nodded in reply, "Maybe. She's a really strong woman." He drawled a little, eyeballing one of her portraits on the wall, her short red hair all curled, eyes piercing and stunning, and lips full and red with lipstick. The woman was at a lost for a few moments, but began to contemplate, it did not take her long to put 2 and 2 together, this man she was sitting next to the whole time was the man who was plastered all over the god-damn place in this museum. The man in the documentaries and the Avengers, the Star Spangled Man with a Plan, Steve Rogers himself was literally sitting a few inches right next to her.

A smile played across her lips, "Well, well, I didn't recognize you now that you're wearing 21st century clothing." She finally spoke, but it wasn't out loud, it was only for him to hear. Steve chuckled at himself, feeling a bit silly for having to disguise himself in his own exhibit, but it was only to avoid the huge crowd of fans that will never want him to leave. Cap laced his fingers together, "Is it obvious?"

The lady nodded, standing up from the bench, the camera motionlessly hanging from her neck against her abdomen. "Not really, I didn't even know who you were just until a few seconds ago, till you gave me hints and I got a better look at ya. I thought you were some shmuck I was stuck sitting next with." She admitted, fixing her coat. Steve eventually stood up and faced the woman, he towered over the shorter woman, who appeared to be at least 5'6".

They eventually walked out of the small theater together, the lady glancing at him, "Wow, you're a lot bigger in person, than in photos." She said, pausing a moment to look at him from head to toe. Steve feeling a bit oblivious. "I'm Hayden by the way, newbie press." She added, lending out a hand, in which Steve returned the shake. "Steve. But you probably already knew that." He quipped.

"So, you're a press?" Steve asked, making small talk with the girl, as they started walking around the exhibit together, "Yup," Hayden quickly replied, lifting up her camera to fix the focus. "Started working at the Maryland Gazette about a month ago, the pay's been pretty good, but my boss has been harping down my throat about adding more articles. So I decided to take a little field trip down to the Smithsonian, to learn about the Captain America exhibit and take some professional pictures and all that fun stuff. Hopefully I didn't make a bad choice and lose my job afterwards." She quip, snapping a picture of the large, Captain America mural on the wall. Steve silently watched her, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "Is that right?"

"Mhm, say, if you don't mind me asking, but what does the great and powerful Captain do when he's off-duty?" She asked curiously, snapping yet another picture on the wall. Steve crossed his arms as they started walking around again, this same question that everyone asks him. In all honesty, he didn't know. After finishing assignments from S.H.I.E.L.D he would just return home and just wait until his next assignment; looking through old photographs and papers from WWII over and over again. Sometimes he would travel around, but that's once in a while since a lot thing's changed, and sometimes he would come here.

He sighed, "I don't know, not much really." Steve shrugged his shoulders, being completely honest with Hayden. Hayden stared at him with disbelief, "Really? Nothing at all? You don't, like, volunteer, go to amusement parks, chill with friends, go on dates, even save cats from trees and all that jazz?" She said, well she has to remember, he's been gone for like 70 years, so she wouldn't blame him for being a bit antisocial. At least he's out of the house now. Steve shook his head, "Nah, not occasionally." The date thing was a bit extreme, since he doubt anyone would date a 95 year old man from Brooklyn. It was a bit awkward anyways.

"I don't think ladies these days will be entertained with my ramblings of World War II, honestly." He insisted, it was kind of hard to find the right woman. Hayden shrugged her shoulders, "Hey, don't be so down on yourself man, you never know unless you try."

Steve shrugged his shoulders again, maybe she has a point, but who knows the next time he'll go on a date. The two reached the hall where the old uniforms resided, in the center was Captain America's old uniform and helmet, holding the fake shield down at the mannequins feet, it had faded stains from gunpowder and dirt from actual combat, stains that would be never removed no matter how hard you tried. It was vintage. Surrounding the star uniform was WWII uniforms of all different types. Hayden definitely needed a shot of the uniforms, so she left Steve alone for a moment and push-past the large crowd to get a good shot up close. "I'll be right back."

Steve watched her go off into the crowd, not resorting in being a jerk and just suddenly disappearing from her. Hayden was certainly a nice girl, with a bit of an eccentric side to her, she was exceptionally cute too. If he had to choose what her prettiest trait would be, he would pick her eyes. Since they're captivating and all that. Out of the blue, an elderly man nudged him in the arm, "What are ya waiting for, ya moron? Ask her out already." He insisted, glancing over at him.

Steve forced a smile, looking down at his shoes, "She's not- I just met her, she's just a friend." He reassured, stammering a tad. Steve couldn't just ask her out all of a sudden because it would appear strange. He's the complete opposite of Bucky, because Bucky would ask her out just when he met her. The old man frowned, "Suit yourself, a strapping young man like yourself would be glad to have a kind girl like her. Since there aren't many like her these days." Was his last words before his grandson that stood beside him pulled him off somewhere.

After another moment, Hayden had returned from the crowd of people with a simple smile on her face, her Nikon camera in her hands. She approached Steve, "Sorry if I was long, it was hard to find the right angle without people's heads and hands getting in the way."

Steve nodded, she was only gone for like 5 minutes, "It's fine, you weren't gone long at all." He reassured, Steve was a pretty patient man after all. Hayden turned on her camera, it made a chipper chiming noise as she did. "Well, I think I got everything I need from this exhibit." She said, going to the gallery of her camera. "Want to see the pictures? She offered, standing next to him, Steve nodded.

Hayden went through the pictures while Steve watched intently, he saw pictures that she already took while he was there. And then some other pictures she took moments before he met her. And then this particular picture just punched him right in the face, it was part of the exhibit that he dreaded to see everytime he went through here. It was Bucky's part of the exhibit. James Buchanan Barnes. His childhood friend that stood by him through his toughest times, when he got beat up by the neighborhood bullies in the alley, when he was denied of military exam for being a weak and scrawny kid before the super-soldier serum, and when he had no where else to go.. And he was responsible for letting Bucky die that night from the train. How he failed trying to save him.

Hayden was a smart girl, so she knew a thing or two about Cap's history with Bucky Barnes, how he fell to his death from that train. So it was most likely a touchy subject. The woman quickly shut off the camera and pulled it away, "Oh gosh, I'm sorry I forgot that picture was in there." She said quickly, sincerity and guilt coming from her tone. It wasn't exactly her fault, the part of the exhibit was for everyone to see, but Steve kind of avoided going to that part of the exhibit, honestly.. A longing sigh was cast from his lips, "It's all right really." He reassured softly, he didn't want to get mad at her for something that's on public display.

Hayden frowned, pushing up her nerdy glasses up the bridge of her small nose, things just got super awkward now. It was silent between them for a few longing moments that seemed like hours. "Uh... There's this small cafe near the dinosaur exhibit, would you like to uh- grab a coffee or something? I mean- you don't have to if you don't want to, that's completely fine- I just have a few more hours to kill and yeah." She offered nervously, waving her hand.

Steve stared blankly at her, he was unintentionally making her feel bad about what she showed him on the camera. But that was the opposite of what he was trying to do, and now she asked him for coffee? She's trying to make up for it. But wait... Did she just ask him for a date of some kind?

"Um, sure that sounds fine." He replied sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. He wasn't discovered by anyone else yet, so it would be a pretty swell idea. "Great! Let's go." She lead the way a bit too quickly with Steve following her.

Finding the cafe wasn't hard at all, even though Hayden had only been here once before on a high school field trip like eight years back. They sat down at an open table, the whole cafe smelled of freshly brewed coffee and baked bread, Hayden swallowed lightly, "So what do you take with your coffee? Cream no cream? Sugar no sugar? Energy pump?" She asked, elaborating a little, which wasn't exactly necessary. Steve smiled a little, "Uh- black is fine, uh Hayden, you don't have to pay, I can do it." For as long as he known, it was always the man's job to pay for his woman, because it was proper and it was always the right thing. If a woman pays, it doesn't look right at all, it's not gentlemanly.

"Oh, no, it's okay, the coffee isn't super expensive, and plus I offered, so." She said, putting a hand on her side. But Rogers wasn't letting up, "No really, I can do it. You don't have to trouble yourself." Steve was just about to get up from his chair, but a hand was placed on his shoulder and pushed him back down. Now Steve was surprised that Hayden was able to push him back down like that, well he wasn't putting a lot of strength getting up, so she was able to do that.

"Sorry Steve, in my book, the one who offers, buys. No exceptions. Guy or not. It's one of my rules I live by." She said with a very serious tone in her voice, which made Steve back off. She released his shoulder, turned, and walked off into the line. Rogers leaned back in the chair, balling up his hands together on the glass table top. At that moment, Hayden vaguely reminded him of Peggy; how serious and frightening she could actually get. But other than that, they were bit of opposites.

Steve kept thinking about what that elderly man said to him earlier, about how girls like her are quickly fading. He wondered what he meant by that exactly? Was it that women are becoming more independent, or is it the new franchise they have these days that are badly influencing girls? He didn't really understand. His sharp blue eyes flicked over at the gray trench coat-wearing girl in line, who was at the counter, talking to the cashier inaudibly. Was there really less girls like her these days? Before becoming Captain America, all girls ignored and neglected him the whole time, even if Bucky hooked him up to a date, a girl would just ignore him the whole time like he's nobody. Well, he didn't know.

Hayden payed for the two coffees, well hers being an iced coffee, and started walking back to the table, handing Steve his coffee and sitting down across from him. "Here you go. The cashier gave me an weird look when I asked for completely black coffee. How can you even drink it plain? She wondered, taking a sip from her chilly beverage. Steve casually took a sip from his coffee cup as if there was nothing wrong with it. "Back in the 40's we didn't really have any creamers or sweeteners, we had sugar yeah, but a lot of people didn't really put in it coffee often, since it was scarce. "

Hayden pursed her lips, setting her cup down on the table again, the ice swishing back and forth. "What were the 40's like? She asked curiously, providing her full attention to Steve. Steve smiled lopsidedly, "Well it was a completely different setting than today. But I don't want to bore you with the details."

Hayden leaned forward in her chair a tad, "No you can tell me I don't mind, it sounds interesting coming from someone who actually lived in the 40's." She insisted, Steve was a bit at lost for words at that short period of time, a female had never been that interested in his back story. Another woman taking notice of him, made him actually feel a bit good. Steve ruffled the back of his hair, "All right."

Steve Rogers had began to explain to her the times of WWII, how his parents had died, and how he was such a scrawny and sickly guy that tried at least four times to get into the military, but had no avail. He told her about the scientist that made him into the guy he is today, and the one who gave him a chance to be in the war. And about the woman that saw potential in him, and stood by him before and after the super-serum. Steve told Hayden about Hydra as a secret organization with its leader being Red Mask, and the death of his friend, Bucky Barnes. Coming from his mouth, it sounds a lot more awful than the plaque in the exhibit on the other side of the building.

Steve also explained how he used to boil everything from the lack of resources that they had now. And how many diseases people had that were now treatable and curable in the 21st century. Hayden never seemed to had gotten bored of him talking, she was listening intently the whole time without even looking away. He was quite an interesting fellow that was old enough to be her great-grandfather.

Steve had at least spent a good two and a half hours, storytelling about the 40's to Hayden, until he had nothing left to explain to her. A smile was plastered across her face, "Wow, amazing storytelling, Mr. Rogers." She mused, she felt intrigued. Rogers felt flattered, finding it sort of unbelievable of how comfortable Hayden is with him now.

Hayden looked at her watch on her wrist, it was getting a bit late, and she had to get home to get some work finished for tomorrow. "Ugh, I'm really sorry, but I have to get going, I got a lot of work to do tonight for work tomorrow. Gotta write like three long-ass articles for the boss, ya know." She got up from her chair, and fixed her coat and camera around her neck. Rogers nodded, getting up from his chair also. "Yeah, it's getting a bit late, I should get going to. I'll walk you out." He informed, both throwing out their empty cups in the trash, leaving the cafe and heading towards the main entrance. They both walked outside were the sun was setting, it was getting a bit colder now but it wasn't that bad.

Steve and Hayden both stood outside the front entrance, facing each other one last time. "Well! It was nice meeting Captain America for the first time, it was a pretty decent day." She smiled, pushing up her glasses as a force of habit. Cap also returned the smile, "Yeah I had a pretty great day, too." He rubbed the back of his neck.

"It was really nice listening to you today, Steve, I hope we cross paths again in the future." She waved to him, turning halfway and about to walk off to find her car. But Rogers suddenly stopped her, "Um, Hayden, are you free, Saturday night?" He asked, softly. Hayden turned around and shrugged, "Yeah, why?"

Mr. Rogers was feeling flustered, "I was wondering if you would like to have dinner, maybe see a movie?" This caused Hayden to smirk, making her come forward. "Well, well, being asked out on a date by Captain America himself, I feel honored." She took out a piece of paper and a pen from her coat pockets, and began writing down her number and address against the wall, then handing it Steve, who looked it over. "I accept."

Steve felt accomplished, but was now nervous because he couldn't remember the last time he'd been on a date at all. "Great, I'll pick you up at 6, then?"

Just before Hayden turned around and walked away, she spoke, "That's fine. To be honest, I always thought old people were pretty cute."

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**ugh finally done, this is a terribly long one-shot I regret nothing. So please say what you think in the reviews I would appreciate it. thank. love. bye.**


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